sharmilad's Profile

I don't think one does stuff like that here with unsealed items -- at least I'm not sure one can return stuff from the open deli section....I know... I'm clearly the freiyer... who knows maybe some people like it like that? Who am I to offend them?

Gonna be doing a lot of slicing thinly.... casserole to bring somewhere....

I had a huge hankering for frankfurters here in Israel where I iive --- and I've just bought some smoked veal (frank-styled) sausage. Alas, It's terrible, horrible awful -- I could barely swallow a small bite of it. Normally I rather like fresh frankfurter sausages from the Polish or Russian stores in the US... I can eat them straight from the store without heating/boiling.

These look like those, but are over over salted, and the texture is pasty and floury somehow, also it tasted wildly beefy and gamey.... very unlike any veal sausage I've had before. The taste I don't mind so much, but the texture makes me shudder.

I don't know what happened, but I closed my eyes for a second in the grocery store and my husband managed to spend 20$ on sausage that's worth Zero. I said buy "two links".

Ok, so please anyone, are there some ideas to cook this to make it edible? I hate to just throw them out.In particular is there anything to do to improve it's texture. Do you think cooking it, boiling, frying, etc will improve this.

Veal sausage curry has crossed my mind.... (hah) 2 evils... maybe....

Boil in beer? Acid? Fried in lard or tallow?

Incidentally if anyone knows anything about how the texture of sausage is created or "uncreated/ruined" in this case, please share. I am getting slightly depressed over the state of cured/smoked meats here and might try to make some myself at some point.

Dear Zepter, I did follow the instructions that came with the pan... I believe as per the website. However, I believe I read that I should use a lid. I will give this pan one more try without a lid and see what results,,,,

I was excited at first because I am steak-cooking challenged... and my in-laws touted it as being good for meat.

I read and followed the directions.... But all the happened was that my steak stuck to the bottom... and overcooked. I tried to use the pan once or twice more, but again I had oddly cooked food and a Very Hard to Clean pan -- so I have given up.

Anyway, If anyone has any experience and know-how with this line, please do share -- I hate to wasted a piece of cookware.

THank everyone for all the information and suggestions. I wanted to update this: I get to a hardware store and bought Barkeeper's friend. I gave my pan a gentle scrub with it and voila! the pan is back to it's original performance. I've used it twice now -- no sticking when I saute my onion/ginger/garlic/spices.... and no sticking as I dry the curries down....!!!

Hurrah! I'm very thankful -- it's my lightest pan for it's size -- and my back appreciates this very much!

I have bought 2 other chef's/allpurpose pans -- a calphalon and an all-clad. I just wanted to know why, the older pan (my first stainless one) performed well for a couple years, but has recently, suddenly declined.

To clarify: the pan in question is a "Tools of the Trade" chef's pan and about 3 years old. It's not part of a set. I do own a calphalon and an all-clad chef's pan, only 1-2 years old, but I realize those are differently made entirely. It's just that the inexpensive pan surprised me by being so good -- and now, the recent and sudden decline in performance has me wondering what happened.

I have not moved -- still use the same stove and two front burners only. Our old floor is tilted -- so there is the tiniest slope to the stove :) -- but this is same as usual -- I always rotate my pans to compensate. I've never had to soak the pan much -- so not much water immersion at all.

I am yet to find some barkeepers friend to clean it .... will post when I do...

As for marks/pits: there is now (only since last 4-5 uses) lots of brown flecks on the inside of the pan. On the bottom of pan: lots of brown marks, 1 pit (pinhead size) and 4-5 tinier pinprick ones, hard to discern...

boo ---- I enjoyed this pan -- it was so nice and light compared to the all-clad.

Ok, I am only a home cook -- and not a chef by any means so please excuse me if my question is in any way dumb.

I have a humble, unpedigreed, stainless steel chef's pan that I have used for app 3.5 years. I use it to make curries and stews mostly. I always use wood or plastic utensils. I always oil the pan thinly and heat slowly, then either saute my onions + spices or brown meats, then add liquids and and allow everything to simmer for 1-2 hours depending on dish. It has always heated seemingly evenly and allowed me to leave it unattended for at least 30-40 mins if I add enough liquid and low heat. Also, the food release was very good -- even after making rendang (beef simmered for 3 hours in grated coconut will fairly dry) the pan would be clean without my ever having to scrub it. Nothing stuck to the bottom if there was at least a couple millimeters of liquid there.

I was very happy with pan till a couple months ago -- food began catching/sticking on the bottom of the pan -- I would have to check and stir more often etc. I gave the pan a rest for about a month (lol to use fancy new Calphalon), but began using it yesterday. Now I find it's worse -- food was sticking within a few minutes. I sauteed a curry paste of onions/garlic/ginger/grated coconut in some oil and it was sticking constantly. Then I added liquids to simmer and found food sticking every 10 mins. For the first time in 3+ years, I had to soak the pan because there were little brown bits that didn't release when I washed it.

My question: why is this happening? What has changed this pan? Is it something I have done gradually? I did sometimes let my housekeeper wash the pot the morning after -- should I have made sure to watch what she did? It was so easy to clean....

It was only a 25$ pan at best -- but I am curious to know what kinds of things might possibly change a pan so that I can avoid this in the future.

Thank you for the welcome, Mr Alkapal. I'll have to check out the home cooking board. I'm very homesick for Cini Appam and Idiappom right now. Can't find anything like it anywhere in NYC unfortunately.

In honor of my mum:Cheese Macaroni (yes, in that order) made with Kraft cheese that came in a Blue CAN I think from AustraliaBanana and honey sandwiched in whole wheat bread

I'm Tamil (South Indian), but 4th generation Malaysian, (Penang). In general, my family ate really well and variously -- but I think those above dishes are holdovers from the WW2 of my grandparents and my mum's childhood.

Every time,my mum, now in her seventies, passes a can of sardines, she thinks of that curry. Me, I get cravings for spam and corned beef, but have never been able to get it to taste just right. I did share my spam curry recipe with an (italian American) boyfriend in college, and surprisingly, he really liked and "owned" the spam curry. I think he was also raised by parents with a keen appreciation for wartime food. My present husband, Israeli via Soviet Odessa, thinks spam and corned beef are gross. More for me.

Recently ate at Wakatay on Redondo Beach Boulivard. Peruvian-Asian fusion. Had their ceviche mixto. I'm no expert on Peruvian food, but i am a long-time seafood lover, and the fish was fresh!! -- sweet-firm-fresh-- ceviche had a good balance of flavours -- each mouthful a delight. Delicious. Very reasonable price -- LARGE appetizer plate of mixed ceviche was about $13 -- and it filled both my DH and me so that we barely had room for the main course. I wish they'd transplant to NYC.